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Monday, March 12, 2018

[EXCLUSIVE] RaceTrac May Be Proposing New Site in Marietta

Atlanta-based RaceTrac recently submitted plans to the City of Marietta for the construction of a new fuel center and convenience store at the corner of Windy Hill Road and Cobb Parkway. The new RaceTrac would replace an existing Folks Southern Kitchen restaurant as well as a Chevron gas station and convenience store.

The new RaceTrac would look similar to this

The parcel, which planning documents indicate is actually the combination of three parcels, is about 1.8 acres, and would be developed into an approximately 5,400 square foot convenience store with 16 fuel pumps and 40 parking spaces.

While preparing this post and after first discovering the proposal late last month, I found that representatives of RaceTrac abruptly pulled the request from review by the City of Marietta and have not yet indicated when or if it will be presented again.

"At this point the Applicant [RaceTrac] is continuing to consider and address developmental concerns and believes it is necessary to take additional time to work toward a a resolution of the same."

"The Applicant asked that their request be tabled from the March hearing dates and to remain tabled until further notice."

When contacted for comment, Liz McIntyre, Communications Manager with RaceTrac, said of the Windy Hill site: "Plans for this site are still to be determined."

The potential new RaceTrac would be less than three miles from RaceTrac's corporate headquarters at 200 Galleria, on Galleria Parkway, behind Cobb Galleria Centre.

There is an existing QuikTrip gas station and convenience store at 2180 Windy Hill Road in Smyrna, about one third of a mile from the potential new RaceTrac.

In 2012, RaceTrac proposed building a similarly sized location nearby on Powers Ferry Road at Windy Ridge Parkway. Many local neighbors voiced strong opposition to the development that would have replaced a vacant onetime TGI Friday's restaurant. RaceTrac never received the rezoning it needed to proceed with the redevelopment and subsequently abandoned the project. The site sits dormant today.

As we have previously reported, RaceTrac has numerous new locations proposed, in the works, under construction, and recently opened.

Another proposed RaceTrac would be built at the corner of Chamblee Tucker Road and Buford Highway in Chamblee.

RaceTrac locations planned for East Cobb (Roswell Road & Old Canton Road and Atlanta (Bolton Road & Marietta Boulevard), (which represents a relocation,) are also in the planning stages.RaceTrac also has two other Marietta locations opening, one at 840 Church Street, near Kennestone Hospital, the other at Burnt Hickory Road & Whitlock Avenue. The Church Street location is expected to open next month while the Whitlock location is much farther from opening.

This past December, RaceTrac opened its new Brookhaven location at the corner of Dresden Drive and Clairmont Road, not far from DeKalb Peachtree Airport (PDK).

Earlier this month, RaceTrac confirmed it plans to open as many as 30 new locations in middle Tennessee by 2023. The expansion marks the chain’s first new market in more than 15 years. The first middle Tennessee store is slated for a 2020 opening on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro. The company is also said to be looking at real estate in Nashville and the surrounding markets.

Founded in 1934, privately held RaceTrac operates more than 450 convenience store/fuel centers in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

What are your thoughts on the proposed RaceTrac at Windy Hill and Cobb Parkway? What one product or category of product would you most like to see added to convenience stores? If given the choice and if the price was the same, would you patronize Costco, Kroger, BP, RaceTrac or QuikTrip for your fuel needs?

These newer Ractrac's are generally clean and provide lots of convenience options. I do wish they'd upgrade their gas to "Top Tier". If QT can at the price point their gas is at, then RT can. As for Anon @ 3/13 @ 2:35AM, this would replace an existing gas station (Chevron), so it's a net zero gain.

Anon @ 1:12 PM: Another idiot who can't articulate a point unless there's a political slant. News flash: not only is everything NOT political, but both major parties are what's wrong with us today: a tribal culture.

Folks needs to let us know what their plans are. Are they going to sell out? Do they own the land?

The only positive I see about the RaceTrac play is if they just want to be strategically placed so they can also offer electric charging stations in the future. Everything isn't as it seems on the surface people... I don't think ALL of these CEOs are stupid...

FYI, the Racetrac in E. Cobb has already cleared the ground and started building, so a little past the planning stages! Honestly, I'll go there or QT across the street based strictly on the direction I'm going. I like them both and suspect they will have equal prices and items.